Days Of Future Past: What We Know So Far

Since the San Diego comic-con and even before, the web has been bustling with news and speculation about the next instalment of Twentieth Century Fox’s X-Men franchise. So, what do we know about the production?

We know the film will feature a Quicksilver, one played by Kick-Ass and American Horror Story star Evan Peters, a distinctly different version of the same character appearing in Marvel’s upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron.

According to director Bryan Singer‘s Twitter page, at least some of the Quicksilver scenes are being shot in 3600 frames per second – otherwise known as insanely fast, given normal film is captured at 24fps. It’s hard to say at this point whether it’ll be used for slow motion, phantom-cam style shots, to actually give the effect of his super speed, or all of the above.

The picture of the Quicksilver set from Singer’s Twitter page was accompanied by the text, “Brightest set I’ve ever filmed on. #3600framespersecond #Quicksilver #XMen #DaysOfFuturePast”.

We know the film will follow the plot line of the comic of the same name, at least to some extent. So we know we’ll be seeing a horribly dystopian future in which mutants are hunted down and placed in concentration camps by giant purple robots. Check out the official schematics for the Sentinels below.

The Sentinels can also be seen in the viral video advert for Trask industries online and in the after-credits sequence of The Wolverine. We know that Boliver Trask will be played by Peter Dinklage, most popular for his Emmy winning role on HBO’s Game of Thrones.

We know that the time travel plot opens up a remarkable can of worms and plenty of ground for speculation: it pretty much allows for anything to happen, so long as it’s taking place in a future than can later be changed or subverted. We know that Ellen Page is back as playing Kitty Pride AKA Shadowcat. She’s a seminal character in the comic book: it’s Kitty who warns the past X-Men of the coming future threat by transporting her mind back to the past. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense cinematically, but Singer’s presumably worked out the kinks. Whether this will be how the story works in the film is still unknown. Current thinking is that it may be Wolverine making the trip…

Days of Future Past will also feature the character known as Bishop, played by Omar Sy. In the animated television series, it’s Bishop who travels back in time and warns the others. This seems a more likely plot route for practical reasons, as Kitty Pride/Shadowcat wasn’t yet be born in the 70’s – the decade in which the young versions of the X-men find out whats to come – with the current theory being that Wolverine will effectively “Quantum Leap” into his old body.

The inclusion of Bishop makes it far more likely that the character Cable – mutant freedom fighter and ostensible son of Cyclops – may turn also turn up, which would no doubt please many fans.

We know that previously unseen mutants Sunspot (Adan Canto), Blink (Bingbing Fan) and Warpath (Booboo Stewart) will being making an appearance. Note the hilarity of all the previous actors names. As well as this, a large cohort of mutants/actors from the previous films are on board, including Collossus (Daniel Cudmore), Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) and Rogue (Anna Paquin). James Marsden’s Cyclops seems unlikely to appear, given that he’s dead in the present and unborn in the 70’s – Singer has all but confirmed his absence. The same goes for Famke Janssen‘s Jean Grey. There has been no word on weather there will be a future version of Mystique, previously played by Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, or if Alan Cumming‘s Night Crawler will return.

We don’t know if the film will address the depowering of mutants that occurred in Last Stand, but clearly Magneto has regained his abilities. We also don’t know how it is that Professor Xavier came to return from the grave – or rather return from complete disintegration – though, again, Singer has suggested that Charles may still be riding along in the body of the comatose man he hijacked, maybe only projecting an image of the Patrick Stewart incarnation we all know and love.

To top it off, here’s new pictures of Hugh Jackman on set. Enjoy!

What do you think will happen? Which mutants do you hope to see make and appearance? Do let us know and stay safe out there, giant purple robots maybe on the prowl.